Vic govt urged to repeal HIV-specific law

AIDS experts want VIC government to repeal, rather than amend, Australia's only HIV-specific law.Source: AAP

AIDS experts want the Victorian government to repeal, rather than amend, Australia's only HIV-specific law.

ON the second day of the 20th International AIDS Conference, the experts said laws such as 19A of the Crimes Act 1958, which criminalises intentional transmission of the virus, were counterproductive to HIV prevention efforts.

Mr Davis told the conference on Sunday that the government was "committed to amend this section to ensure it is non-discriminatory". But Victorian AIDS Council chief executive Simon Ruth said on Monday he was concerned by the language used in the announcement. This suggests the possibility that section 19A could be converted into a general provision covering other infectious diseases, Mr Ruth said. "We believe that would be a step in the wrong direction," he said.
Section 19A says a person who internationally causes another to be infected with a serious disease is guilty of an indictable offence. It carries a maximum prison sentence of 25 years. To date, only one out of more than estimated 26,800 people living with HIV in Australia has been charged for not disclosing their status. Mr Davis said it was unclear whether that case would be reviewed when the section was amended. HIV advocates say laws such as 19A discourage HIV-positive people from disclosing their status to partners and health professionals because of potential legal ramifications. Living Positive Victoria president Ian Muchamore said repealing section 19A would have a positive impact on the stigmatisation of people living with HIV. He said its repeal would remove an embarrassing anachronism from the law. Since 1998, UNAIDS and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) have recommended that states should not create and enforce HIV-specific criminal laws, but instead should utilise laws on bodily harm or sexual assault. Victorian HIV Legal Working Group chairman Paul Kidd said laws that singled out people living with HIV characterised them as potential criminals. While intentional transmission of an infectious disease was potentially a crime, there was no justification to enact special laws to cover it, he said. The existing law was sufficient, he said.

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